Water Resources
... Basin
.. Surface Water
... Ground Water
... Demand

Water Status
... Rainfall Status
... Reservoir Status
... Canal Flow Status

Projects
... Ongoing
... Completed

News

Events

Newsletter

Downloads

Maps

Data

Links to related sites
APCBTMP Irrigation Dept,GoAP CGG AP Online Other Links

Second Generation of Irrigation Reforms-PIM post 2003: Lag and breaks in the elections of the WUAs first held in 1997 were caused due to several reasons. Technicalities concerning formation of the FOs, their election process, roles and responsibilities, duration and succession details, term of office, redrawing of the boundaries of the WUAs, inclusion of nominated and elected representative in the area were incorporated and added into the Act to correct anomalies. Making the elections of the entire state co-terminus for facilitating the indirect elections of DC and PC, by extending where necessary the term of existing office bearers and establishing January 2008 as the uniform date for scheduling and the subsequent conduct of WUA elections every two years were important milestones showcasing the commitment of the department to the working of PIM. In view of the recommendations and suggestions made by reviews for incorporating continuity and permanence in the system the APFIMS Act was amended in 2003 to make the WUAs continuous bodies. Other changes introduced include: Reduction of the tenure of the Presidents of WUAs to two years from five years to provide an opportunity to fellow water users to head the WUAs.

Farmers Organizations-Second Elections 2004:

Elections were conducted in the year 2005 for 7 districts out of remaining 9 districts for 3721 Water User Association (WUAs).

The second stage of elections to WUAs that ought to have been held in 2003 were subsequently held in three phases in 13 districts in October for 6221 WUAs and in April 2005 and January 2006 for 3790 and 730 WUAs respectively. In view of the recommendations and suggestions made by reviews for incorporating continuity and permanence in the system the APFIMS Act was amended in 2003 to make the WUAs continuous bodies. Other changes introduced include: Reduction of the tenure of the Presidents of WUAs to two years from five years to provide an opportunity to fellow water users to head the WUAs.

WUAs are now permanent institutions with two TC members retiring and two new TC members elected every two years; Co-option of Members of Parliament (MPs, Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) and other elected representatives of Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRI) to WUAs without voting rights at different category of irrigation systems. At minor irrigation WUA the village/Gram Panchayat will nominate 2 of GP members in consonant with the 73rd amendment. PCs of medium irrigation project are to include all Mandal Praja Parishad (MPPs), MLAs and MPs in the project area and the PCs in major irrigation are to include all MLAs, MPs and Zilla Parishad (ZPs) Chairman in project area. Holding of elections and establishing of proactive rules and regulations set a positive mood for the unfolding of the reforms. Responsive and interactive strategy and the percolation of the atmosphere that the department is seriously perusing PIM to the farmer's level was a significant factor for the notion to find grounding in the system. Along with these periodic changes that fine tuned the details of the PIM process in the state, substantial changes were brought about in the process of financial empowerment and sustainability of the FOs in the post 2000 period.

Farmers Organizations-Third Elections 2006:

The third elections to Water User Association (WUAs) and Distributory Committees (DCs) that ought to have held in 2006 were conducted for 15 districts (retirements of 13 districts and 2 left out districts) for 7018 Water User Association (WUAs) and 160 Distributory Committees (DCs) in 2006.

Farmers Organizations-Fourth Elections 2008:

The fourth elections to Water User Association (WUAs) and Distributory Committees (DCs) that ought to have held in 2008 were conducted for all the 22 districts for 10680 Water User Association (WUAs), 323 Distributory Committees (DCs) and 83 Project Committees (PCs) in 2008.

Financial Sustainability: Tax assessment, Tax Demand, Collection

The initiation of reforms in the irrigation sector in 1996-97 focused on integrating farmers directly in the management of irrigation service to aid transforming the vicious circle of irrigation systems into the virtuous circle of the irrigation service. Towards this end the Act proposed to initiate the process of Participatory Irrigation Management PIM in the state that involved the gradual entrusting of irrigation services with these farmers bodies for improved cost recovery and Organization and Management of the dilapidating and deteriorating physical irrigation infrastructure. The reform in the state was initiated by two major changes envisaged by the government including tripling of water charges and linking of water charges to O&M and linking the WUAs with a program of minimum rehabilitation.

Water pricing is undoubtedly the most significant and debated issue dominating the reform agenda in irrigation systems. Low charges and decreasing water rates have been a constant quandary of irrigation systems. The vicious circle of non-performance plaguing irrigations systems all over the world originates in the ridiculously low water charges and the even worse collection rates recorded by different systems. Water fees and tariffs are collected for financial sustainability and for incorporating water efficiency norms in the sector.

• Towards Greater Autonomy of FOs-: Irrigation charges, which had remained unchanged for years, were for the first time in the Indian context at once raised three fold on 1st April 1997 effective from the beginning of the 1996/97 season. The reform was preceded by wide spread consultation and public outreach processes that created public acceptance of the anticipated raise in water charges. Increase of water charges and an attempt to institutionalize the pricing of irrigation water price through the establishment of a Water Charges Review Committee (WCRC) to recommend and oversee financially sound water pricing mechanisms in the sector set the irrigation sector in the state on the road to financial self sufficiency.

Water Charges in Andhra Pradesh

• Demand Assessment, Collection and Plough Back of Irrigation Water Tax: A new process established that the Competent Authority in the Irrigation Department for different WUAs in consultation with the concerned WUA Presidents was to make an assessment of the crop wise area irrigated and furnish the same to the Mandal Revenue Officers (MRO), who in turn were to fix the demand after azmoish by the Revenue Inspectors, Village Administrative Officers etc. Based on the actual collections, the Mandal Revenue Officer was authorized to issue proceedings every quarter to adjust amounts due to WUAs/DCs/ PCs/Gram Panchayats (GPs)within one month of the end quarter. Based on these proceedings, the concerned Treasury Officer was authorized to issue cheques in favor of the WUAs/DCs/ PCs/Gram Panchayats in the ratio fixed by the irrigation Department from year to year. A process of joint azmoish was recommended to correct and address the problem of the variations in figures between the actual area irrigated as arrived at by the Irrigation and Revenue departments.

• Limitations in Tax Collection Process: The Water Management Committee under the Chairmanship of the Chief Secretary recommended a change in the procedure of the assessment of the area irrigated. Recognizing the importance of simplifying the plough back procedures to help sustain the FOs, new measures were put in place. Simplification of the plough back procedures, creation of necessary budgetary support for 100% plough back of the water tax amounts, apportionment of arrears, and adjustment of the balance un-apportioned amounts emerged as the few areas needing urgent attention to clear the bottlenecks in the FOs empowerment process. A new procedure of assessment and apportionment was devised to circumvent the glitches and make funds available to the FOs at the earliest.

• Irrigated Area Assessment and Assessment of Water Tax:A new procedure for assessing irrigated area and assessment of the tax demand was thus put into practice to do away with the huge discrepancies that the previous procedure had. A uniform proforma was thus created, wherein the Competent Authority (engineering) and WUA President prepare the particulars of areas irrigated during the standing crop period depending upon crop season and furnish it to the Dy. Executive Engineer and Executive Engineer.

• The New Water Tax Demand, Collection and Plough Back Procedure: Based on new procedure laid for assessment of area irrigated, a new process of rising the demand and collection of the water tax was identified (G.O 96, 2007). The order empowers the Tahsildar to fix the demand as per the area assessment furnished by the Executive Director. Formats were created for raising the Water Tax demand and the DCB statement. The DCB particulars of water tax and the details of amounts due from individual ryots including arrears to the WUAs and EE concerned for every quarter within one month of the end of the quarter are to be furnished by the Tahsildar. The Tahsildar was made responsible to collect and remit the tax amount, credit the collections into 0020 land revenue account and provide copies of the DCB statement to the WUA and the EE concerned. The Managing Committee of the WUA and the Competent Authority are called upon to assist the Tahsildar in collection and remittance of tax amount and maintain account of the water tax collection at the WUA level. A separate head account for providing budgetary support for the re-plough of tax to all WUAs with the Commissioner, CAD as HOD was created.

Process Elaboration: Action Plan; Micro-plans, Workbook Methodology

Attention was now directed on preparing and gradually transferring responsibilities to the FOs so constituted to strengthen them. FOs role until early 2000 remained limited to being consulted on water release and conducting of operations and maintenance works identified by the department. According to the APFMIS Act the FOs were to be involved in activities like approving the operational plan based on its entitlement, area, soil, cropping pattern the process was yet to be started. Transferring and strengthening the capacity of the FOs for taking up these activities, is a challenging process that took the reform process further. In order to transfer and make the FOs authority operational, I&CAD decided to initiate and formalize the process of taking up and prioritizing works at the WUA level.

• Categorization of Works by Farmers Organizations: To impose uniformity and regularity in the process of Operations and Maintenance works all over the state, a new process was institutionalized by effecting changes in the APFMIS Act. The G.O No. 46 issued in 2007 to identify and establish new norms and processes represents an important landmark in this context. This amendment introduces uniformity and consistency in the operations of FOs in the entire state by identifying the categories of works that the FOs should take up in a specified manner. It identifies and elaborates the uniform processes and method of doing a number of activities like procedure for taking up the works; system of diagnosing maintenance works; prioritizing works; preparing estimates; method of obtaining technical clearances; methods for taking up the works and other details. The works in a FarmersOrganization were categorized as follows:

1. Normal Operation and Maintenance Works: Theseinclude works like De-silting; Weed removal; Embankment repairs; Revetment: Repairs to shutters; Repairs to masonry and lining; Cleaning & Oiling of screw gearing shutters; Painting of hoists and gates etc; Emergent breach closing works; and Maintenance of inspection paths.
2. Deferred Maintenance Works: (Rehabilitation Works) include works like; Reconstruction of sluices; Reconstruction/repairs to drops & regulators; Reconstruction of measuring devices; Rehabilitation of the system
3. Original Works-These include Modernization of the System and any other new construction work in the irrigation system.

• Micro-Plan Preparation for Operation and Maintenance: A regular and routine process has been set in motion where a team of professionals representing I&CAD, WALAMTARI, NGOs and Consultants carry out the exercise of facilitating the preparation of micro-plan and consolidation of the same at various levels of the users institutions (WUAs, DC & PCs) and at departmental circle level. Preparation of the micro plan is designed to ensure good quality and quantity of work and improve the capacity building needs of the WUAs. Prior to the commencement of every season (kharif and rabi) the Managing Committee and Competent Authority (engineering) of every FO undertake assessment of the condition of the system through participatory walk-through exercises. This plan is intended to identify important and urgent works, prioritization of works to be undertaken in the area of WUAs in a participatory manner to inculcate a feeling of belonging and ownership in the farmers. These Micro-Plans are to prioritize the works on the basis of immediate benefits, urgent repairs, or preventing works for safeguarding against floods. The group of professionals are identified for facilitating Micro Plan
  1. Target group i.e. the irrigation officers like EEs, DEEs, S.Os (competent authorities) and WUA functionaries are given orientation on preparing micro plan at project training centers/ Circle office and field level. All necessary information listed out in a pre-developed format is obtained from concerned sources like irrigation, revenue department, WUAs and farmers
  2. Resource persons within the division/sub division level officers who can spear head the micro plan preparation are identified
  3. The work plan for Micro Plan is than prepared by concerned authorities at division/sub division level

• Introduction of the Work Book Methodology: Looking at the favorable response of the FOs and their receptiveness in taking part in the micro plan preparation, the process has been up scaled to a work book methodology. Prepared formats and proformas, regular capacity building by identified and trained departmental staff, adequate support from support officers that were put in place to upgrade the system to a Farmersoperated system. For the easy operation of the entire exercise ‘work books’ have been developed and published for the FOs on a range of topics. These work books contains process steps and sequential activities for action plan preparation for the different levels of the Farmers Organizations (WUA, DC& PC). An irrigation project management cycle has been identified and established which the FOs are being trained to follow and adopt.

• Irrigation Project Management Cycle: All above activities are part of a seasonal cycle of crop and water management. The cycle starts with the review by FOs of the performance of the past season and preparation of a list of the priority of the maintenance works to be undertaken, the water schedule and the expected water demand for their area which is to be recorded in the Work Book. The proposed plan is than reviewed and approved by the Project Committee and the Chief Engineer that makes it eligible for receiving funds from the tax re-plough funds at the disposal of FOs and other additional government funds if any. The FOs are also to actively participate in water release scheduling and maintenance works. Training, informed support and regular encouragement has gone a long way in the successful implementation of this cyclical operation all over the state in the current year (2009).

• Above workbook based methodology was initiated during the year 2009-10. The anlaysis of the previous year was converted in to maps for highlighting the performance of each WUA. This spatial output was used during current year at each WUA level for current year planning. The exercise during the current year covered 20 Major irrigation projects representing 60 lakh acres, 2225 WUAs, 300 DCs and 20 PCs, Further details are elaborated in Performance Monitoring Section.

Irrigation Project Cycle

Capacity Building-Modules, Field Training Centers, WALAMTARI

The reform process to yield projected results needed to be understood by the agency staff itself and by the farmers who were now expected to play a more proactive role in the entire process. Capacity building and awareness programs are basic to mold and prepare the stakeholders for the changed conditions and contexts. AP initiated systematic and intensive training courses and orientation programs for all stake holders at each level. The I & CADs Water and Land Management Training and Research Institute (WALAMTARI). NGOs and Consulting firms, State Agricultural University and electronic media were involved in conducting training and creating awareness about the reform process.

Capacity Building Approaches: A range of approaches and activities were identified for the implementation of the training and capacity building of the FOs and other stakeholders in the reform process. Most of the interventions and measures for building up the capacities of the stakeholders were devised keeping the nature and chronological order of the activities and the responsibilities assigned to the FOs in mind.

As these FOs are spread across the vast expanse of the state, decentralized approach is adopted wherein the capacity building facility is created at field level. These facilities are provided minimum required infrastructure and also the professional support for managing the programme. Local engineers and selected farmers are trained to carry out the identified modules. Local folklore media and wall writings etc are also adopted for awareness creation. The farmers and the folklore teams act as roving trainers.

The approach also addresses the various level needs that range from mass awareness programme for entire village, specific programmes for office bearers of the FOs and specific programmes for common interest group. A brief introduction is given about each of the identified approaches in the discussion below.

1. Awareness Generation Camps: The first identified step in the process of building the capacities of FOs has been the mass awareness generation camps usually of one day that focuses on explaining and familiarizing the direct and indirect stakeholders of the operation, about the nature, scope and function of the proposed project / operation. The local folklore media is adopted for these camps.
2. Exposure Visits: The department has stressed the incorporation of exposure visits for the WUA Presidents to irrigation projects with well performing WUAs within the state and other states, for DC Presidents exposure visits to irrigation projects with well performing farmers organizations in other states of the country; and for PC Chairpersons exposure visits to other states and also to other country with good experience of PIM to get an understanding on farmer participation in irrigation management. The learnings from the exposure visits and clarifications are put on record to be used at a later stage. These visits exposed them to the behavioral change unfolding in other command areas; the different approaches of participatory irrigation management; and other changes unfolding in the area of irrigation management in other parts of the country.
3. Workbooks - Annual Action Plan Preparation: As the farmers organizations are required to play a major role in efficient management of irrigation systems to increase agriculture productivity they have been assigned an important responsibility of carrying out irrigated area assessment, crop water requirement and water indent, water tax demand assessment, collection, planning and implementing of O&M of the irrigation system as a part of the irrigation project management cycle. Moreover, all the activities need to be planned and executed within a stipulated time schedule. To facilitate these activities among the farmersorganizations I&CAD Department has developed a number of Work Books which delineate the formats, process steps and sequence for the preparation of action plans for the different levels of farmers organizations covering activities like: Irrigated area assessment; Crop water requirement and water indent; Assessment of water tax demand & collection; O&M plan; Water audit and water use efficiency; and Social auditing of O&M works
4. Capacity Building Modules Training and capacity building program in a modular form is designed and planned for all the three levels of the farmers organizations. A little more in detail about each of these is elaborated below.

Water Users Associations:  A total of eight modules have been planned for carrying out the training and capacity building of the WUAs in the existing major and medium irrigation projects in the state. The subject and target of the eight modules will be as follows.

The Eight Training Modules for the WUAs

Distributary Committees: A total of 3 modules are planned for carrying out the training and capacity building of the DCs. The modules focus on developing understanding among the DC members on their roles and responsibilities. The subject matter and target of the modules are as follows:

Project Committees: In order to make the PCs active and functional following activities have been planned and organize for them:

1. An orientation meeting with the PC members on know your project theme and better water management practices adopted in the irrigation projects in the state
2. An orientation meeting on PC roles and responsibilities as per the APFMIS Act
3. An exposure visit to a well performing irrigation project in the country to sensitize the PC Presidents and Vice Presidents of medium irrigation projects on group building, understand management of irrigation system and productivity enhancement in agriculture
4. An exposure visit to a well performing irrigation project in the country or other country to sensitize the PC Presidents and Vice Presidents of major irrigation projects on group building, understand management of irrigation system and productivity enhancement in agriculture

Implementation Arrangement of the Training and Capacity Building Program

The training and capacity building program for the farmersorganizations will need to cover over 3000 WUA/DCS/PCs of the major and medium irrigation projects in the state. To systematically organize these numbers of training and capacity building activities there was a need to design and adopt an effective implementation arrangement.

The project PMU stationed at CAD headquarters is responsible for identifying the approaches, instruments, and conducting these trainings. They are also responsible for developing the training and capacity building modules, preparing the training schedule and coordinating the training program at all levels. The trainings and capacity building program for the WUAs, DCs and PCs and the Training of Trainers for the competent authorities and the roving trainers was previously carried out according to the Annual Training Calendar prepared for each Irrigation Circles by the farmersorganization representatives and the support team. The Work Books for the WUAs, DCs and PCs have been developed and printed by the PMU and dispatched to the irrigation circles for distribution to the farmersorganizations. As the process is now streamlined the services of WALMTARI are hired for day to day administration of the training and capacity building program for the farmersorganizations implementation arrangement for conducting these training and capacity building exercises.

• Support Organizations: Training and capacity building of all stakeholders was originally initiated in 2005 to familiarize the farmers about the radical changes unfolding in the irrigation sector. Originally, the capacity building of farmers was entrusted to four big identified NGOs having experience in the rural sector. However, paucity of NGOs having experience and information on irrigation management was as a serious constraint.

• Professional Support through Field Training Centers -: To institutionalize the process of training and capacity building at the grass root levels and infuse continuity in the process I&CAD has opted for the creation of Field Training Centers at the circle level. A team of professional support staff consisting of one Training Coordinator and one Irrigation Engineer (Retired) is contracted from the open market in each irrigation circle. The details of the support team and their jurisdiction is briefed in the table below:

Field Training Centers

• Selected Competent Authorities and DC Presidents as Roving Trainers: Another tried option has been picking up selected competent authorities and DC Presidents with good communication skills and show an aptitude for farmer training as roving trainers. These roving trainers function as the field trainers for training and capacity building program for the farmersorganizations. The Training of Trainers program includes 7 modules.

Training Modules of Training of Trainers

Monitoring of Capacity Building Activities

The monitoring of the trainings is carried out at two levels, first as monthly progress monitoring and second through the performance monitoring of the WUAs/DCs and the irrigation systems. The monthly progress monitoring is carried out using the MPR format developed for this purpose. The WUA/DC performance monitoring is done on a half yearly basis using the PSA chart developed for this purpose with the following indicators which is elaborated in next section:

• Establishment of WUA / DC office
• Updating WUA / DC records
• Increase in water tax collection
• Regular Managing Committee and General Body Meetings
• Farmersinvolvement in irrigation system maintenance (timely O&M activities)
• Establishment of social audit display boards and work boards for transparency
• Regular self assessment and corrective actions
• Reduction in tail end areas
• Financial auditing of WUA / DC accounts (annually)

Monitoring: Participatory Self Assessment, Water Audit, Benchmarking

Monitoring of Irrigation Performance

The India Water Resources Management review that conducted an in depth and detailed study on improving the performance in irrigation systems of the country holds the poor conditions of the irrigation infrastructure as the main factor for the low water use efficiency as compared to international standards and advocates major technological improvements to advance productivity per unit of water in the country. According to the report Indian irrigation systems need to make substantial improvements in the data base, analytical framework and public information for improving the overall technological and information systems of the irrigation systems. It points out that insufficient network of measuring stations for river flows, groundwater levels, water quality, and meteorology is compounded by the need to improve the quality of measuring equipment, and the methods of data collection and collation.

• Water Use Efficiency: The formalization of water use efficiency in the water sector was recommended by the Water Management Committee constituted by the AP government in 2007. Accordingly certain activities like timely completion of maintenance works during canal closure period, O&M activities by WUAs, systematic irrigated area assessment with the help of APSRAC were initiated for monitoring the performance management of the irrigation projects on seasonal and annual basis. For the sake of infusing uniformity and speeding up the process of operation of the FOs a few formats and proformae were developed to be filled by the FOs on a range of topics. The formats prepared to collect information on The WUA, and DC O&M Micro-Plan preparation were formalized and distributed to the respective FOs to be filled in and approved. These formats collected information about the WUA particulars, Actual Irrigated Area, Tail End problems, Tax Collection, Crop Demonstrations, Status of Structures, Community Organization and capacity building, O&M works, Tail end area reduction activities. The FOs and the Competent Authority of the respective unit are entrusted the responsibility of familiarizing and enabling the FOs fill up the concerned formats and proformae.
• Water Audit: Water audit determines the amount of water lost from a distribution system due to leakage and other reasons and the cost of such loss to the utility. It is a pre-requisite for evaluation studies. To conduct an effective water audit, a few indicators were developed. They can be cited as follows:
  • Availability of water in the reservoirs.
  • Season-wise water use for irrigation flow as well as lift against projected use.
  • Water use for non-irrigation purpose against projected
  • Evaporation from reservoir.
  • Water lost through leakages.
  • Season-wise area irrigated and water use efficiency.
  • Area irrigated by influence area of project

 

• Benchmarking: Benchmarking in the Irrigation system is a tool for improving Water Use Efficiency, Financial viability of the system, adoption of best management practices and environmental sustainability in the system. The main objects of this exercise are:
• To compare the water use efficiency with the targeted one for further improving the performance
• To check the water losses for saving and conserving water.
• To identify the best management practices.
• To generate healthy competition among various projects units and within the Project.

The following indicators have been selected for Benchmarking.

• Annual irrigation water supply for unit irrigated area.
• Potential utilized and created.
• Out put for unit irrigated area.
• Out put for unit of irrigation water supply.
• Cost recovery ratio.
• Total O&M cost per unit area.
• Total O&M cost per unit water supply.
• Revenue for unit water supply
• Assessment recovery ratio.
• Land damage index.
• Equity performance
• Man days for O&M per unit area.

• Procedure for Water Audit and Benchmarking: Water Auditing and Bench marking work are to be inspected by the Superintending Engineers of the respective circles/Engineers from the project level as authorised by the Chief Engineer concerned/Other Engineers authorized by the CADA. A time schedule for the submission of Proforma both for the Kharif and Rabi have been developed. A Time Schedule for submission of Proforma was developed.

• Participatory Situation Analysis: Community Based Self Rating System: The Participatory Self Assessment tool that has been developed is unique as it serves two important purposes in the entire irrigation reform process.  The PSA tool originally drafted to get a response directly from the farmers about their status operates both as an effective monitoring and a training tool used to identify and correct anomalies. As a training tool, the capacity building exercise that familiarizes the farmers about the method of using the tool goes a long way in explaining the process to the farmers. The PSA tool also gives a clear idea about their deficiencies and limitations that compare their performance with other units in the state. The PSA tool was primarily designed as a monitoring tool to review the impact of capacity building and assess the functioning of the FOs. As a monitoring tool, it identifies the deficiencies, limitations, and the problems plaguing the unit and identifies the areas that need rectification.

• Development of Indicators: A few categories of importance were identified, the significance of this categorization highlighted, and a list of indicators for each category were developed to assess the functioning of the crucial aspects of PIM. At the same time, the I &CAD has adopted Integrated Water Resources Management and has defined specific performance mandates. Thus, the set of indicators chosen for rating is a mix of indicators chosen by the community and the secondary stakeholders. Indicator based monitoring using visuals was found to be an innovative tool for self-monitoring.  Thus, actions were focused on developing visuals for each indicator to assist and collect information from illiterate farmers also. Four key areas of assessment, their significance and a list of indicators developed to measure and monitor the progress / lack of progress can be listed as:
• Participation and Dialogue
• Performance
• Self Management
• Innovations and Technology Adoption

 Learnings from the Process Reforms

The laying of clear rules and regulations for the conduct of all functions ensured that the FOs get a clear idea about the manner of disbursing their functions in an efficient manner. Regular capacity building exercises on detailing and explaining the roles and responsibility of the FOs went a long way in charting the success of the operations. The removal of complications and initiation of speedy plough back mechanisms ensured that the FOs had funds at their disposal. Moreover, the entrusting of the role of identifying works to be undertaken, prioritizing them according to their significance, balancing them with the funds at the disposal of the FOs started a process of pro-active operations from the farmers.

In the earlier immediate post 1997 APFMIS Act period, most of the works undertaken by the FOs funded by Government of AP / World Bank funds treated the FOs at best as contractors of works undertaken. The farmers had little feeling of ownership or accountability and hence had no incentive to make the system function. Farmers saw little benefit in the entire system of PIM where they were entrusted the responsibility of operations, even as they got little idea about the benefits that accrued from those initiatives. Entrusting of a direct and functioning role to farmers through the FOs, in irrigation area assessment; tax assessment; access to funds collected; and utilization of the funds so collected went a long way in revolutionizing and localizing PIM in the state. The departments efforts to innovate and initiate processes and approaches suited to local demands and concerns went a long way in helping the programs and initiatives take ground and find acceptance so promptly.

Related Downloads:

• APFMIS Act 1997
• WUA Election-Circular Memo 2005
• Amendment to APFMIS Act 2005
• Farmers Organizations Rules, G.O. No. 46, 2007
• The Participatory Irrigation Management Program in Andhra Pradesh, India: Current Issues and the Need for Monitoring and Evaluation: Douglas L.Vermillion, December 9-22,1999
• Participatory Irrigation Management in Andhra Pradesh: Concerns and Perspectives: Doraiswamy
• Irrigation Reforms in Andhra Pradesh, India-J. Raymond Peter
• Consolidating and Strengthening PIM in Andhra Pradesh: A trendsetter in India, K V.Raju
• Participatory Irrigation Management in Andhra Pradesh: A Quick Review of 7 years of experience, K.V.Raj
• Assessment, Demand and Collection & Plough Back, G.O. No: 96, 2007
• Allocation of Water Tax, G.O, 115, 2001
• Allocation of Water Tax, G.O 894, 2002
• Allocation of Water Tax, Clarification, Memo no: 18239, 2005
• Plough Back for Administrative Charges-Circular Memo, 2007
• G.O.Ms. No.130 for hiring of Training Coordinators and Engineering Consultants-2007